On World Mosquito Day, a lazy Sunday on August 20 this year, several Facebook users in India received poke notifications from an unusual Facebook profile. This Facebook user was a Dengue mosquito!

A closer look at the profile revealed that unlike a real mosquito whose poke can cause Dengue and many other diseases, this poke by the Dengue mosquito profile was a unique and interesting way to create awareness about #HitDengueBack, Godrej Hit’s initiative on World Mosquito Day.

Godrej Hit, the mosquito repellent brand wanted to educate and mobilize the regular Facebook user to register as a Platelet Donor, as part of its ongoing ‘Platelet Donation Drive’ campaign – #HitDengueBack.

Once a poked Facebook user visited the profile of the Dengue mosquito, all the necessary information about Dengue and platelet donation was revealed with the help of a series of posts present on the Dengue mosquito’s Facebook timeline.

Dengue is an acute viral disease caused by a mosquito bite and has emerged as one of the biggest threats to public health. Last year, more than 1 lakh dengue cases were reported in India with 245 unfortunate dengue deaths. Most of us are aware of dengue, but what we don’t know is this: Dengue has no cure and has to be treated symptomatically.

The virus causes a sharp drop in the platelet count of the patient’s blood. This triggers internal bleeding and other complications, and in rare cases, when the platelet count drops below 20,000/cu.mm, the patient may require an urgent transfusion of platelets. However, unlike blood, platelets cannot be stored for more than 5 days. In these cases, the ready availability of a platelet donor is the only hope.

“Understanding the gravity of the situation, Godrej HIT has taken this bold initiative to educate citizens about platelet donation,” Kapil Dev Pillai, Head of Marketing (India), Godrej Consumer Products, shared about the company’s drive to build India’s first online platelet donor community for dengue patients.

Godrej Hit embarked on a phased path to drive awareness and registrations for this cause, along with Ogilvy. It chose digital as the primary medium in order to reach out to young people. An online website has been created where one can register as a platelet donor and social media is being leveraged to drive users to the website.

“We are leveraging platforms, which have high affinity with students and young professionals, like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google display network and Google search.”

Driving users to the registration site followed a three-phased strategy beginning with education, launch of the online platform and finally driving registrations.

The key task in the education phase was to educate people about platelets and how platelet donation can save lives of dengue patients. Through multiple consumer interactions, “awareness regarding platelets and platelet donation emerged as a key gap area,” he informed.

A series of digital content like static posts, GIFs and infographics were created and shared on the brand’s social media channels.

Godrej Hit partnered with Apollo Hospitals to manage the last mile connectivity of platelet donors with the needy patients. This social initiative was launched in Delhi in a press conference on July 11. To sensitize citizens about this social cause, a digital film – Koi Aur Kar Dega, highlighting the apathy of people about platelet donation, was also launched on the occasion.

The 30-second film captures youngsters in different scenarios – watching a game, shopping or playing, when they are informed about the donation drive but are reluctant to spring into action right away – because ‘someone else will do’.

Looking to connect with college students and young professionals – the core audience for this initiative, the team then activated relevant physical touchpoints like college campuses, corporate offices, blood banks and hospitals.

Meanwhile, the brand engaged youngsters through Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google Display Network, Google Search and affiliate platforms. The ongoing campaign is continuing to drive registrations with witty content pieces, along with the creative marketing pulled off on World Mosquito Day.

The Facebook Poke activity on World Mosquito Day was a creative move to catch the attention of youngsters, and the response was phenomenal. “We were able to create a lot of organic conversations for the initiative,” Pillai revealed. The team banked on influencer outreach for the Facebook Poke activity. It teamed up with influencers majorly from three buckets: students, young professionals, and celebrities. These influencers urged their friends and followers to register as a platelet donor.

Kalki Koechlin, acclaimed actress and dengue survivor talks about the importance of having received timely platelets, while urging her followers to register as donors.

The team recently included Facebook Filter feature for user profile pictures. FB users can share their support for platelet donation and also encourage their network. To mobilize support on Twitter and reach more users, an incentivized contest #SuperHitPlateletDonor was hosted on the brand’s Twitter page.

Q3. Which component of blood goes down because of dengue? #SuperHitPlateletDonora. WBCb. RBCc. Plateletsd. Haemoglobin

And how can one let go Gen Z without a mobile app. In addition to the website, a mobile app has been designed to gather registrations. Through the mobile app, ‘Hit Track The Bite’ anyone can register as a platelet donor, and for those in need of platelets can call the city-wise platelet helpline numbers through this mobile app. In addition to this, the app also provides important information about mosquito borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya and their prevention.

Simplified, fun content with strong CTA

Part of all our conversations on dengue is that it’s a mosquito-borne disease, and the need to protect ourselves from mosquitoes. But what’s never been a part of our conversations is: how is dengue treated and how we can save the lives of critical dengue patients. Godrej Hit’s ‘Platelet Donation’ drive campaign comes as a refreshing online ready reckoner on dengue. Busting wrong perceptions about platelets and conveying the importance of timely platelet donation forms the core communication of the campaign, and has been crafted well in terms of content creation and distribution.

Hit has not only spearheaded dengue conversations among Gen Z with this platelet donation drive, but also provided them with a platform where they and their friends can actively participate in the war against dengue. A trait specifically noted with Gen Z is their affinity for action-oriented brands, and this is good for the mosquito repellent brand.

With #HitDengueBack, Godrej Hit has hit the right spot in helping the brand build ownership in its dengue fight. We hope you register as platelet donors right away!